Metal Gear dev talks about a platform-free future for gaming

We've heard countless times about the PC nearing its inevitable demise as a gaming platform, citing how weak sales and piracy have forced developers to focus almost exclusively on consoles. While I don't particularly agree with that notion, it's true that the market is evolving and the future of gaming may look quite different a few years down the road than it does today. If you take Hideo Kojima's word for it, it is closed platforms in general that are set to die a quick death.

The creator of the popular Metal Gear series believes that "in the near future" video games won't depend on any console or platform, adding that gamers should be able to take the experience with them wherever they are and whenever they want -- from their computer to the living room or a portable device while traveling. In Kojima's vision users will buy platform-agnostic software and enjoy the same experience on multiple devices.

Kojima is certainly not the first to envision a future in the cloud. In fact, his comments come just as OnLive is getting ready for a commercial roll out of its ambitious games-on-demand service in a couple of months. It remains to be seen how well the market reacts to the service -- especially with its current pricing model -- but in all likelihood that technology still has a long way to go before it replaces the PC and gaming consoles dominating the market today.